The Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the National Centre for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR), a member of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), has successfully performed 42 allogeneic and 105 autologous blood stem cell transplants despite the pressure placed on the healthcare system due to Covid-19.
"Bone Marrow Transplant ( BMT) is a highly effective therapy and often the only hope for a cure or a longer life for patients with blood cancers. It's a procedure to replace disordered bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. Transplant physicians use this procedure to eliminate cancer or defective stem cells and restore a patient's blood and immune systems," explained, Dr Javid Gaziev, head of Bone Marrow Transplant Programme at NCCCR.
Dr Gaziev said: "Allogeneic stem cell transplantation is a highly specialised treatment and one of the significant advances in care at NCCCR, as mandated by the National Cancer Strategy since 2011. Interdisciplinary expert teams of transplant physicians, transplant nurses, transfusion medicine, laboratory medicine, and stem cell processing laboratory have invested years of developmental work to finally establish this cutting-edge Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplant Programme”.
"These advanced therapies required many years of specialised transplant expertise. A total of 147 transplants with excellent outcomes is an outstanding achievement since the introduction of the Qatar Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Programme, which stands today up to other stem cell transplant centres worldwide,” he added.
Stem cell transplant therapy is a life-saving treatment for many cancer patients, especially those with blood cancers and some inherited benign blood disorders like Sickle Cell Disease, Thalassemia, and others. This advanced therapy was unavailable in Qatar until 2015, when autologous stem cell transplantation was introduced, followed by the allogeneic blood and marrow transplant programme in 2017.
Dr Mohamed Salem al-Hassan, medical director of NCCCR, said: "HMC is committed to enhancing the BMT techniques and to providing innovative services and technologies to improve transplants capacity and capabilities for all cancer patients, as well as to providing the best and most advanced BMT services available to Qatar's population,"
Despite the Covid-19 crisis, NCCCR continued to improve the services to deliver high-quality care to the patients, which is the health care challenges of the healthcare system in general and the oncology team in particular. In line with HMC's mission, NCCCR’s ultimate goal is to develop a healthy population; people are part of the equation in making that happen. NCCR has achieved so much through the employees' dedication, determination, and hard work, and there is still more to complete.
"At HMC, we are committed to continuing our efforts to enhance medical performance, introduce the best treatment programs, use the latest equipment and technologies, and provide staff with the required training on the use of these technologies to ensure the delivery of high-quality care to patients,” Dr al-Hassan concluded.
"Bone Marrow Transplant ( BMT) is a highly effective therapy and often the only hope for a cure or a longer life for patients with blood cancers. It's a procedure to replace disordered bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. Transplant physicians use this procedure to eliminate cancer or defective stem cells and restore a patient's blood and immune systems," explained, Dr Javid Gaziev, head of Bone Marrow Transplant Programme at NCCCR.
Dr Gaziev said: "Allogeneic stem cell transplantation is a highly specialised treatment and one of the significant advances in care at NCCCR, as mandated by the National Cancer Strategy since 2011. Interdisciplinary expert teams of transplant physicians, transplant nurses, transfusion medicine, laboratory medicine, and stem cell processing laboratory have invested years of developmental work to finally establish this cutting-edge Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplant Programme”.
"These advanced therapies required many years of specialised transplant expertise. A total of 147 transplants with excellent outcomes is an outstanding achievement since the introduction of the Qatar Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Programme, which stands today up to other stem cell transplant centres worldwide,” he added.
Stem cell transplant therapy is a life-saving treatment for many cancer patients, especially those with blood cancers and some inherited benign blood disorders like Sickle Cell Disease, Thalassemia, and others. This advanced therapy was unavailable in Qatar until 2015, when autologous stem cell transplantation was introduced, followed by the allogeneic blood and marrow transplant programme in 2017.
Dr Mohamed Salem al-Hassan, medical director of NCCCR, said: "HMC is committed to enhancing the BMT techniques and to providing innovative services and technologies to improve transplants capacity and capabilities for all cancer patients, as well as to providing the best and most advanced BMT services available to Qatar's population,"
Despite the Covid-19 crisis, NCCCR continued to improve the services to deliver high-quality care to the patients, which is the health care challenges of the healthcare system in general and the oncology team in particular. In line with HMC's mission, NCCCR’s ultimate goal is to develop a healthy population; people are part of the equation in making that happen. NCCR has achieved so much through the employees' dedication, determination, and hard work, and there is still more to complete.
"At HMC, we are committed to continuing our efforts to enhance medical performance, introduce the best treatment programs, use the latest equipment and technologies, and provide staff with the required training on the use of these technologies to ensure the delivery of high-quality care to patients,” Dr al-Hassan concluded.